


Absentminded (The Sun Is Not To Blame)

by starchitect



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles
Genre: F/M, No Spoilers, Pre-Canon, Short & Sweet, Shulk never leaves the lab and suffers for it when he finally does, Shulk starts getting sentimental toward the end, Sunburn, but it's okay because Fiora is there to treat his burns :)))), he steps outside and gets instantly scorched, he's so pale smh, pining?, sure why not, these two invented love I swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24326308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starchitect/pseuds/starchitect
Summary: That was when the misfortune hit. Because of course,of course,the one day that Shulk leaves the lab for more than thirty minutes is the day he ends up with a nasty sunburn. And sure, this could have been avoided if he weren’t wearing a tank top for once in his life, but it washot,and Reyn had insisted that he not melt. Andsure,he could have put on sunscreen, but he wasn’t expecting to be gone for that long. He must have lost track of time.Somehow, this is Reyn’s fault.
Relationships: Fiora/Shulk (Xenoblade Chronicles)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 49





	Absentminded (The Sun Is Not To Blame)

**Author's Note:**

> one week till the best game of all time,,,,,, so close yet so far,,,,
> 
> also I didn't outline the dialogue for this one and I feel like it Shows
> 
> here it is anyway :V

“I feel like the sun is trying to kill me.”

Shulk had never been particularly lucky. Misfortune befell him left and right as a kid, be it either due to clumsiness or to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He would have his good days, but more often than not, it always seemed like anything that could go wrong would.

Today, for example. Reyn had been begging him to leave the lab for a while, and after being promised a brand new set of tools to work with, Shulk happily agreed to spend the afternoon hunting moth crawlers and tossing stones across the water with the redhead. It was just like old times.

That was when the misfortune hit. Because of course, _of course,_ the one day that Shulk leaves the lab for more than thirty minutes is the day he ends up with a nasty sunburn. And sure, this could have been avoided if he weren’t wearing a tank top for once in his life, but it was _hot,_ and Reyn had insisted that he not melt. And _sure,_ he could have put on sunscreen, but he wasn’t expecting to be gone for that long. He must have lost track of time.

Somehow, this is Reyn’s fault.

“Well, maybe it wouldn’t try to kill you if you would acknowledge its existence for once.”

Shulk tracked down Fiora once he realized he’d been utterly scorched. Having had to take care of Dunban after the Battle of Sword Valley, she knew a thing or two about burns. She was more than willing to help, if not severely unamused.

“You only have yourself to blame for this one, you know. This is why you should go outside more often,” Fiora chides, procuring some aloe from one of the cabinets. “The lab isn’t everything.”

Shulk frowns from his seat at the kitchen table. “I know, but… There’s still so much we don’t know about the Monado. And if I can figure out the secret to how it works, we might have a better chance against the Mechon.”

“Oh, for Bionis’ sake,” Fiora huffs with a shake of her head. “First Dunban, now you! The Mechon are gone, Shulk. There’s nothing to worry about. Now turn around.”

The scientist obeys, and Fiora sets to work on his burns, but she doesn’t get far before the boy in front of her gasps and flinches. She stops.

“What’s wrong?”

“...It’s cold,” Shulk mutters.

She sighs and continues, ignoring the way he squirms under her touch. “Well, if you had thought to put on sunscreen, then you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“I didn’t _think_ about it…”

Fiora continues. “Well, maybe you should have. Besides, you can’t blame us for trying to get you outside more often. I’m pretty sure Dean thinks you’re a zombie or something.”

Shulk opens his mouth to argue again, but Fiora has a very good point. He may or may not have accidentally spent a few nights in the lab due to working so late…

He makes a sound between a sigh and a laugh. “Alright, you win. I’ll try to hang out with you and Reyn more often.”

Fiora beams. “That’s what I wanted to hear.”

They both share a laugh, and as Fiora moves on from the back of Shulk’s neck to his shoulders, it occurs to him that maybe taking a break every now and then wouldn’t hurt. He’d almost forgotten how much he enjoys Fiora’s company, and how much she’s willing to do for him. She’s always there to take care of him whenever Reyn isn’t, and Shulk has lost count of all the meals she’s brought to the lab while he was working on something particularly time-consuming.

Everything about Fiora is just...nice, for lack of a better word. Shulk doesn’t know where he’d be without her. He thinks he started falling for her sometime before middle school, but it hardly matters anymore. All he knows is that every moment they spend together only seems to make him fall even more deeply in love with her. It’s beautiful. _She’s_ beautiful.

And… Maybe one day, he’ll tell her. He’ll tell her everything. He’ll tell her that he still remembers that one time where they stayed up and watched the sunrise at Outlook Park, and Fiora had said she wanted to get married one day. He wants to ask her if she still feels that way. The idea of Fiora being his bride is...a pleasant one. Even now, so many years later, Shulk still keeps that memory close to his heart.

 _One day,_ he thinks. But that day is a long way from today.

For now, he’s content just to be by her side. It’s all he could ever want.

**Author's Note:**

> these two cured my depression I swear
> 
> see y'all on the 29th uwu


End file.
